Causes of rectovaginal fistulas
What causes or contributes to a rectovaginal fistula? Are there nutritional aspects and what role does the microbial environment play? Finally, what can be done to treat this rare but debilitating condition?
I received a question via email from a woman who found me through my popular post about healing fistulas naturally (274,800 views and 471 comments!):
I am 70 years old and something strange is coming out of my vagina. The doctors suspect that there is a tiny fistula connecting the colon to the upper left front of my vaginal wall.
This woman was really confused about what caused the recto-vaginal fistula and what she could do to cure it. When I asked for more details, here is the sequence of events that preceded the fistula:
- She did a water fast (with electrolytes) for a month, followed by a two-week fast of clear, naturally squeezed juice and small, occasional amounts of a psyllium product called Intestinal Clenz so that she didn't have constant “accidents” from the detoxification regimen (diarrhea). Also supplement with magnesium.
- Vaginal discharge begins, she suspects a yeast infection. She begins to eat normally and takes a trip to visit her grandchildren. But has to return home because of the pain. The doctor immediately prescribes her a two-week course of the antibiotic Zosyn – click on this link for a full list of “side effects”.
- After taking Zosyn for two weeks, the doctor calls with the PAP (vaginal swab) test results and tells her to go to the hospital immediately because she has an E. coli infection. She receives intravenous Zosyn for 5 days and is then sent home with 8 more weeks of intravenous antibiotics.
- Doctors do two CT scans at the hospital and diagnose her with diverticulitis, but they can't be sure because bilateral hip implants make it difficult to see. She now has an appointment for a colonoscopy that she doesn't want.
My thoughts on the cause of rectovaginal fistula
I apologize in advance if anything I'm about to say sounds judgmental or critical. I'm really not judging anyone here. I am only giving my perspective and personal opinion based on my own knowledge and experience. Keep what is useful/helpful and throw away the rest.
What I don't know exactly is why she fasted so extremely and for such a long time? She wrote that she underwent fasting to end her 40-year addiction to painkillers for migraines. I have to imagine she had a doctor who successfully guided her through this protocol…
But from a gut perspective, I can think of very few reasons why four weeks of just water and electrolytes would be helpful. We need to look at our bodies from an evolutionary and psychological perspective. What does four weeks without food mean for humans in the millennia of our existence? This is extremely biologically stressful.
When discussing his book “When The Body Says No,” Dr. Gabor Maté on a study in which test subjects claimed not to feel any stress. But their bodies registered clear and significant stress markers/signs. They were unaware of the stress their bodies were feeling.
From a gastrointestinal perspective, emptying the intestines for four weeks without concurrent probiotic supplementation opens the door to opportunistic infection. For the same reason, we should never take antibiotics without therapeutic probiotics.
Then, after four weeks of depleting the gastrointestinal tract of its microbiome, she stopped consuming anything but pressed juice for two weeks and then flooded the gastrointestinal tract with…sugar! What is the preferred food of yeast/fungi and bad bacteria? Sugar.
Everything about intestinal clenz
She mentions that she also takes magnesium (which stimulates bowel movements), but when the diarrhea becomes too severe, she takes psyllium. I looked up the ingredient list of the psyllium product she uses called Intestinal Clenz:
Ingredients:
- Psyllium (seeds and husk)
- Alfalfa (leaves)
- Rose hips (Rosa canina) (fruit)
- Sea buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula) (bark)
- Cascara Sagrada (bark)
- Lactobacillus acidophilus
- Montmorillonite clay
- Cayenne pepper (fruit)
- Garlic (bulb).
It contains a powerful laxative (cascara sagrada) as well as montmorillonite clay (commonly called bentonite clay), which removes any bacteria it can absorb. I think cayenne pepper would also be pretty harsh on a bruised gut.
What role does nutrition play?
But let's also take a look at her normal diet before she started this fast/cleanse:
Homemade organic food – LOTS of raw vegetables and fruit, high-fiber grains, little sugar, little salt, very little meat, freshly squeezed juice.
From many perspectives, this may seem like a healthy diet. In my opinion, it is not a good diet for digestive health.
To cure a digestive disease, we avoid grains entirely, eat cooked vegetables, and fruit only in isolation, but not much because of the sugar. The same goes for freshly squeezed juice – too much sugar (unless you only squeeze vegetables like celery and cucumber). Eggs, wild fish and chicken are initially the best-tolerated protein sources. Then work your way up to lamb, game, beef.
You eat as much good fat (organic, pasture-raised) as you can tolerate—and as you recover, you can tolerate more: butter, ghee, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, duck fat, beef tallow, and cold-pressed linseed oil. Bone broths with natural gelatin are very beneficial for the intestines. They avoid phytates (unsoaked, unfermented grains) and oxalates (raw spinach, kale, etc.). Sea salt is recommended.
In my experience, her raw, grain- and carb-heavy diet actually caused gastrointestinal issues. Painkillers can also promote the development of intestinal problems. Drugs like aspirin cause direct bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, while others create an alkaline pH – which promotes the growth of bad bacteria and inhibits the good bacteria.
How do bacteria get from the gastrointestinal tract into the vagina?
In my last livestream with the founder of Natren Probiotics, we discussed the common transfer of bacteria from the gastrointestinal tract to the vagina. They are right next to each other. It's pretty hard to have one healthy and the other not. Problems like improper wiping, diarrhea, and sex increase transmission.
It's hard to say what the initial vaginal discharge meant. But the first two weeks of administering antibiotics to a gastrointestinal tract that had already been stripped of beneficial, protective bacteria was a recipe for disaster. How much did the antibiotics contribute to her current condition? This is just one of the warnings from the drug information for Zosyn (emphasis mine):
Tell your doctor if you experience serious side effects of Zosyn, including muscle cramps or cramps, swelling of the arms/legs/hands/feet, easy bruising or bleeding, chest pain, confusion, new signs of infection (e.g. fever, persistent sore throat), severe abdominal or stomach painslow/fast/irregular heartbeat, persistent nausea or vomiting, seizures, extreme tiredness, dark or cloudy urine, change in the amount of urine, yellowing of the eyes or skin, or serious skin reactions (rash, peeling, sores or blisters).
So now we have a brief overview of how and why rectovaginal fistula and intestinal infection occurred. Remember that a fistula is simply a drainage hole for infection. An infection (overgrowth of pathogens) cannot remain in the body or lead to death. In men, the body creates a fistula/drainage opening in the perianal area or even through the tailbone.
Natural remedies for rectovaginal fistulas
I have detailed instructions on all rectovaginal fistula protocols and treatments that I know of. Including nutrition, emotional healing, injection protocols, infrared laser, vaginal probiotic paste and more. Go ahead and click this link.
In this woman's case, she has a bigger problem than just the fistula she asked for help with. And during a colonoscopy, her colon is cleared of bacterial flora and she is exposed to infection from the endoscopy itself. Be sure to download my e-book “What You Need to Know About Colonoscopy to Minimize Risks Before and After Colonoscopy” and also read this patient’s story.
Her story shows not only how harmful colonoscopies can be, but also how illnesses can worsen as the medications cause new and varied problems.
Due to the state of her gut microbiome, this woman now needs to heal her entire gastrointestinal tract. She needs my book “Listen To Your Gut” now. Or at least Jini's Guide to Natural Healing: Intestinal Infections. It will take a good six months for the microbiota of your intestines to be replaced with beneficial flora, the mucous membrane to heal and the intestinal wall to strengthen.
And then there are the deeper levels of healing…
The body shows the way
For this woman and everyone reading this, I once again encourage you to address the spiritual/emotional messages of your illnesses. The body is the messenger for the subconscious. Symptoms are always messages. In rare cases the message is simply to change something in the physical realm.
But for serious or chronic illnesses, the messages are also about spiritual and emotional health. In this woman's case, her body was already (quite clearly and forcefully) reporting the migraine.
My body speaks… what does it say?
Whether she explored soul-level healing or not, she did not get to the root(s) and receive all the messages. So now there are more messages – or they have become louder and bigger.
There are no shortcuts in this healing journey called life. The sooner we lean into it, the sooner we can embody our authentic selves.
PS And remember, if you're having trouble, visit my Home Remedies section to see if I have a proven natural treatment for you. I have over 350 pages of natural remedies, all free! So either look there or use the keyword search box on my blog here.
Jini Patel Thompson is an internationally recognized expert in natural healing for digestive diseases. She healed herself from widespread Crohn's disease and has been medication and surgery free for over 25 years. Jini has appeared on numerous podcasts, TV and radio shows in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, giving people hope and vision on how to heal their colitis, Crohn's disease, diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) using all-natural methods. Her books on natural healing of digestive diseases have been sold in over 80 countries worldwide. Jini is married and has three children, nine sheep, 11 horses, a cat and three dogs.
